Can Chess.com add old version of XXL Chess?

Without fairy pieces

maybe

I agree

You will soon be able to set up any position in the custom section.

There are endless possibilities which makes it hard to come up with a 'standard'.
The old XXL I thought was a bit lame. 8th rank promotion at least I think is good, and well it's '4PC style'. 
It seems that most players play XXL once and then never again.
The old XXL was really just me who threw a few pieces on the board, and the new XXL is similar, but is was Arseny's setup. We would most welcome well thought out setups, that hopefully would give this variant more depth and create a following.

@spacebar I never ended up writing it but I once nearly wrote a review on XXL and it wasn't great. I didn't finish the review however cause I was being cocky in it and I decided against publishing because I actually have a lot of respect for what you and the other devs do.

There really is something to the whole chess XXL thing but I think it missed some opportunities...

1. Playing on a massive (mostly empty) board plays like a very long end game.

2. The standard time controls (5|2) isn't really ideal considering with such a massive board a player must look at and analyse so much more of the board.

3. 14 x 14 is a slightly odd and irregular number to choose.

4. Not everyone is acustomed to fairy pieces.

5. Making custom positions is either not possible or really difficult to set up considering a player has the impression they can set up their own games...

Here's some things I propose you do to improve XXL:

- Change the standard to a 16x16 board: so players can put 4 boards together and play at home or at their local club.

- Keep it simple. I.e, mostly non-fairy. I like fairy pieces but most people are not acustomed to them and its wierd seeing so many knight/horse looking pieces when you've never played with them before. My suggestion: If you want fairy pieces in the standard, have 1 fairy piece max.

- Custom board. Let players edit the size and shape of their board up to 16 squares and access to all fairy pieces like with 4pc.

- Make 4 rows of soldiers. Before I realised what XXL I was all excited because all I ever wanted in chess was a rediculously massive army... I knew full well the game would last ages but I didnt care, I just wanted a stupidly large army in which to do battle. Have 4 rows of soldiers.

- Change the standard of the time control from 5|2 to 10|10.

I was really into this topic at one point so for my review I was producing some designs, but it can be a little difficult because not all chessboard backgrounds can go with fairy pieces.

Anyway, here is one design:

Notice that the entire board can be made with: 4 chess boards, 4 chess sets +4 knights per side... This is because we want to actively encourage people to play this variant at home or in thier clubs... so make it as easy to make as possible and inspire that wonder that makes people go: ooooh *star eyes*

This is just one setup but its the general idea and I think it can be improved upon.

If I had to include fairy pieces I would only replace 4 Knights (per side) with Camels.

The rules of the game would also be adjusted to allow pawns to move up the board much quicker and castling would also be slightly adjusted to speed up the game.

I can come up with more designs but only if you ask for it. Message me directly and I'll be happy to volunteer provided nothing will interfere with my studies

- Eldar

Maybe have a competition where you let players come up with designs and the best one (or one with the most votes from the community) gets to become the standard?

This might allow a lot of alt account

16x16 we don't have. 14 is max.

4PC is moving to variants soon, and with all the 4pc custom games, which are user created suggestions, moderated, with CGAs (custom game admins) reviewing and deciding which games to put on the list and which ones don't, and which to remove.
Personally I was just interested in creating tools to create variants. I'm not so keen on deciding who's suggestion deserves a prominent spot on the menu, which is what team CGA does in 4PC and hence they will all also be moving here soon. I think team CGA could use some new members who focus on reviewing and listing more orthodox, non-4player, non-zombie/Wheel o fortune type games.
https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/4pc-custom-games

see also https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/four-player-chess-15

We hope to get edit position (allows to create any position/game as in 4pc) and tournaments released soon. Then we'll prepare for 'the big move' of 4PC to variants.

nice, I look forward to it; keep up the good work =P

True

Would there be some possibility for chess with different armies?

I think automate/setup style chess will come, so yes ig

also custom positions, however it would take a lot of custom positions (12 for 4 different armies for instance.)

What about designing custom pieces? will it be possible someday?

new pieces require a lot of code, and a fairy piece is unlikely to be made

true

But it's just to change a vector and some properties, the interface for it should require but why should the engine at all?

I’m not really an expert at this; you should go ask @spacebar for the most correct answer. I am just telling you what I know

please don't
for XXL to be popular, it needs to be fun to play with 5|2 control or a max of 10 mins or 5|5, otherwise this variant will not be competitive compared to other variants
the old version was unplayable in this sense, most games could be won simply by waiting for the opponent to get bored and give up on his own
to make the game more dynamic, the pieces were strengthened. pawns on 8 rank give a start to the game, and fair pieces increase the amount of tactics. all included fair pieces are pretty easy to learn, as their moves are just combinations of moves of already known pieces. I think it will not be difficult for a player who has played Gothic. the only unusual piece is a camel, but on a large board it looks even more appropriate than a knight, because it is more transposable
I think there are a few more ways to make the game more dynamic in relation to the old setup. not a square board: 8x14, 10x14 will compose the distance between the pieces. you can make 4 rows of pieces, but then these pieces should be in close proximity at the starting position
but in any case, this variant should remain interesting in blitz controls in order to get a gaming audience, because first of all it is not the game itself that is interesting, but with whom you play it

scottish chess would be fun